Tired, listless, apathetic, constantly low on energy and no amount of sleep and rest help. Does this sound like you? These symptoms aren’t just annoying feelings and it’s not that you suddenly aged overnight. You may have a chronic fatigue syndrome, and no amount of coffee will make it go away.

Chronic fatigue, also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, is a serious disease that manifests itself in overall exhaustion, aches and pains, sleep abnormalities and other symptoms that are usually made worse by exertion. The fatigue can be incapacitating and does not ease up after rest or a nice, long, overnight slumber. More common in women than men, chronic fatigue is one of the most common maladies affecting women in pre-menopause and menopause.

To self-test of you may have chronic fatigue you must have at least four of the following symptoms, which have persisted for six months or longer.

• Your sleep doesn’t leave you refreshed and rested.

• Severe headaches you didn’t have before.

• Tiredness and uneasiness after physical exertion that lasts over 24 hours

• Problems with short-term memory and concentration, which are affecting your life.

• Aches and pains in muscles and joints with no obvious reason (like swelling or redness.)

• Sore throat and tender lymph nodes in the neck or underarms.

Besides these must-have symptoms, other indications of chronic fatigue include bloating, nausea, diarrhea, or night sweats or chills. It can also include various allergies and sensitivities to food or alcohol. Other physical symptoms such as arrhythmia, palpitations or shortness of breath, or chronic cough aren’t uncommon. Some patients also complain about blurred vision, dizziness or the so-called brain fog.

While modern science doesn’t know exactly what causes chronic fatigue, there’re many things that seem to set it off. The human herpes virus, cytomegalovirus and the Epstein-Barr virus have been found to trigger it. Immune system dysfunction such as improper production of inflammatory cytokines has been linked to it. Thyroid dysfunctions resulting in lower hormone productions have been associated with it. Other possibilities range from stress to nutritional deficiencies.

Diagnosing chronic fatigue isn’t straightforward. Medics don’t have specific tests to diagnose it. To make it even more challenging, the symptoms of chronic fatigue and their severity vary from person to person and are often mistaken for tiredness, aging, burnout and other maladies that are expected to go away eventually. But the worst part is that there’s no known conventional treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome. There’s no magic pill that works.

But chronic fatigue is exactly what it sounds like—it is chronic and it’s unlikely to disappear on its own. That’s why many people seek complementary and alternative solutions. Usually, these treatments have to be tailored to the individuals, addressing their specific problems. There’s really no “standard” treatment that works for everyone. The key is about finding the right combination of treatments that work for you. Depending on whether you suffer from pains or tiredness or sleep disturbances, different regiments may be prescribed. At Amita Healing Center, we approach every patient individually, tailoring our wide arsenal of remedies for your specific needs. It may be vibrational medicine that will help your body to heal itself or homeopathic remedies, but Dr. Yakovleva will help you restore your normal energy levels and make you feel like your old self again.